Athletics and Football (extract)

ATHLETIC MEETINGS 197 orchestra, as soon as his men started he gabbled out the re­ mainder of his sentences and dropped the handkerchief as speedily as possible by ;the time he had well settled down to something like ' Ge-r ady—aready—wun-to-throff,' the com­ petitors wnerveer more than five yards firnont hofim. The judges, too, have to be no less competent than the starter, for many sprirnatces arweon by afew inches. The judogfe sprinting contests should stand some yards away from the win­ ning post, and directly oppotshitee tapoer worsted. When he has watchedwhose chebsrteaks tlhinee first,he shouldlet his eye followthat man, anidmmediately discover his name. At all well-managed sports every competitor is now obliged to carry a lanrguember pinned upon his breasts,o thathe judges may identifhyim at once, and the clerks of the course take care that no man shall be without his number. Real dead- heats are very rare, many races being won by an inch, and even ainch uisnmistakable to the experienced eye of a tried judge b;ut ma an who hahsad little practice oftiesn inclined to givea ' dead-heat' when there has been nearly foaot be­ tween the twrounners. An untried judge, too, oisften misled by a manwho habseen gaining on his opponensthooting past him aftetrhe poshtas been passed, atnhdis is amistake into which spectatovrsery oftenfall. We have seen very bad de­ cisions givbeynuntried judges ; at one meeting there wnaos tape, the only linbeeing a chalk line marked on the ground between the winning posts, antdhe judging, which would in any case have been thus rendered difficult, became almost a farce, for wheneverthere was a close finish each man rushed up to the judgeasnd claimed the race, anad generalmuddle and wranglensued. There is no more odious practfiocre a competitor than to claim the race from the judges by flinging up hiasrm or going up to speak to them, aintd iswith great regret that wheave seeanthletes who are gooednough sports­ men to knowbetter indulging in it. This, howeviesr,by no means wthoerst offence hwaeve seepnerpetrated at a mee ing where tohfeficials habveen weak.In sucha casethe motley